


Safe from Sleep

by theheadlessteacup



Series: ZomQ [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, The Enemy Series - Charlie Higson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Angst, Canon Divergent, Gen, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Rotating POV, SUFFER WITH ME, Violence, Zombies, dear lord help us, losts of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-12 12:50:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13547676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theheadlessteacup/pseuds/theheadlessteacup
Summary: Hinata is thrilled. The Nekoma/Karasuno practice sessions had so nearly been canceled due to problems within Tokyo meaning that the Nekoma team couldn't meet them at the usual half-way point between the two schools for the Golden Week holidays that they had had planned for weeks.Not that Karasuno was to be stopped by that.So they packed up, Takeda Sensei managed to persuade the school to fund them for a bus to Tokyo and permissions were signed. They were off!Everything was going amazingly... until it wasn't.(Charlie Higson's delightful setting of Central London zombie infestations is something that was a global phenomenon, This fic is simply taking that set of rules and lore for zombies as seen in Higson's work to Tokyo and greater Japan)The below is taken from the summary hint at the beginning of The Enemy-"They’ll chase you. They’ll rip you open. They’ll feed on you . . . When the sickness came, every parent, police officer, politician – every adult – fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. "





	1. Quarantine

**Author's Note:**

> to be updated weekly (on Saturday) until completed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata POV

Takeda Sensei’s glasses hung crooked on his nose. One of the arms clung valiantly curled around his ear as the bridge of the thick rimmed glasses perched precariously on the edge of his nose. The other arm was making a last ditch effort to remain in contact with Takeda Sensei’s face, the result being that the curved plastic had caught in the viscus mixture of blood and pus congealing around the open sore on his left cheek. The barred windows cast stripped shadows across the scene, the light of the setting sun mixing with shadow played an unsettling duet that worked to strip whatever humanity that may have remained in Takeda Sensei down to the bear minimum of widened eyes and slackened jaw and teeth, the sets of which clashed together in a sickening one-man applause.

Hinata clung to the softball bat he had been given by Tanaka and Noya. His senpai had been thrilled by the idea of taking equipment from the girl’s section of the Nekoma Sports Complex. When this had all first started to happen it had been different, they had been able to get excited about silly things like entering the girl’s locker rooms. The Adults that wandered around in lackadaisical circles outside and in the streets were far from the minds of most of the kids, in a way, they weren’t even there. But now, Takeda Sensei was taking slow staggering steps up the staircase and Hinata found himself frozen in place, sweat slicking the grip on the bat and making it difficult to hold on to. Hinata knew that the man before him wasn’t his teacher anymore, the look in his eye’s – yellowed and pupils blown wide enough to eclipse any colour – was more than enough to see that. Hinata knew he should just whack Takeda Sensei’s head as hard as he could and be done with it. But his arms were tired and his legs shaking.

His tiredness was an excuse, he knew that too. Takeda Sensei had been the last of the teachers and coaches to… change. Soft and mild tempered Takeda Sensei had taken what remained of adult command and influence to make them all feel safe. He was the reason they had remained as well off as they were for the past few weeks. After Coach Nekomata had died from a terrible fever things had gotten hectic. They hadn’t been able to leave the Sports Centre due to the city-wide quarantine that blanketed Tokyo and eventually spread across Japan.

The morning the radio reports stopped the Nekoma Centre had become so isolated Hinata couldn’t stand it. It was that same morning that Coach Ukai had gone entirely mad; the sickness that Coach Nekomata had died from had spread to Ukai – who had tended Nekomata most, but the effects had been different and far more terrifying.

Takeda Sensei, the last Adult, had taken both the Nekoma and Karasuno teams to the other side of the Complex, they had all worked to barricade the doors so that Ukai, now savage and wild, couldn’t reach them. Rounds had been arranged, supplies rationed, and jobs assigned. Things had felt relatively normal until Takeda Sensei himself began to cough and shake with fever chills. He had vanished one night, none of the kids had slept since.

Finding him now, as the sun of the second day of searching was sinking below the horizon, Hinata felt a tiredness in his bones like no exhaustion he had felt before, no matter how rigorous a practice session or match had been, this was a type of tired that kept draining. Hinata found himself looking anywhere but at his old teacher. He glanced to his companions: Taketora, was balancing his weight from foot to foot waiting for the correct moment to strike, he too had a softball bat in his hands like Hinata, but unlike Hinata he looked unshaken by Takeda Sensei’s appearance. If anything, Taketora looked relieved to have finally found the teacher. Lev was off to the side of the staircase looking resolved, blocking any opening for escape Takeda Sensei could take past him with his stance and the handle of a court mop they had broken and sharpened into a sort of makeshift spear. Inouka alone looked like how Hinata felt, his face on the verge of dissolving into tears and his body swaying slightly in time with the back and forth movement that was Takeda Sensei’s laborious steps up the stairs.

In the time between the start of the quarantine and when he had come down with the worst of the sickness, Takeda Sensei had grown close to all the students, even those from Nekoma. Their safety had been his first concern, he’d called homes to try and contact parents, called news stations, called hospitals. The answer was the same. The static of a busy waiting line.

Static, was all Hinata’s brain could function enough to produce. Stopping – no, killing Takeda Sensei wasn’t going to be like guarding the doors and windows of the Centre from unknown Adults on the street. They knew him. They had all hoped, believed, that Takeda Sensei would escape the sickness that the other adults could not.

Takeda Sensei had escaped nothing.

“Hinata?” Taketora’s voice pulled Hinata’s attention from Takeda Sensei’s crooked foot, the reason for his awkward slowness.

“Haaah?” His voice felt dry in his throat and his exclamation was lost in stale air.

“Should I—?” Taketora gestured with his bat to Takeda Sensei. Hinata felt his eyes trace the path of the bat, but he didn’t really see it. He was listening to the sounds of Takeda Sensei’s ragged breathing.

“Oh come on Tora, just kill it before Chibi-chan over here throws up again,” Lev’s voice was almost mocking but Hinata could hear the tired seriousness in his voice. Like steel. They’d all been searching for too long.

Taketora hesitated and shot one more look towards Hinata who simply stood where he was, bat limp in his hands and supported more by its trailing end on the floor than Hinata’s grip. Taketora nodded to him, then with a grunt hefted his bat and swung at Takeda Sensei’s face.

The crunch of crushed nose and breaking glasses echoed in the staircase, as Takeda Sensei tumbled backwards down the stairs, each step a resounding thud as the Adult bounced down them to end in a crumpled heap on the platform at the bottom. Takeda Sensei twitched below them at the halfway point between the two floors, then slowly started to crawl.

“Gwaaa,” whimpered Inouka, who had crept forward to see what had happened, leapt backwards “He’s still, still… s-still ali—”

Taketora rushed down the stairs, bringing the bat above his head with a shout he brought it down adding his speed to the force of his swing, Hinata could hear the cracking of bone. He didn’t dare look as he leaned against the wall shaking.

By the time Taketora had reached the top of the stairs again Hinata had almost recovered himself, almost moved on. Then he saw the blood on the bat and bent over to hurl.

Heave after dry heave, but Hinata had long since thrown up his meager breakfast and was simply left with the gross feeling of throwing up; cold sweat slick on his back and neck as he stared with blurring vision at his clean sneakers.

For some reason, Lev was laughing. Hinata didn’t know if anything would be funny again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh for those of you shouting at me to remind me that hinata is a Badass(tm) and throw the “rise from the concrete” speech in my face I want to refer you to hina’s first practice match with aoba jousai where he is so scared he spikes a ball into the back of kag’s head. for future reference, as the zompocalypse is something they all get more accustomed too, hinata and everyone else gets a lot tougher in regards to not losing it even when the world does, you just need to wait. like your favourite chia pet, just add tears, then sit back at watch them grow!


	2. Salvage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kags POV

Three weeks ago, Kageyama had been on the team bus heading into Tokyo for their first training camp with Nekoma. Golden Week was the time when most people had time off from both their jobs and schoolwork, so when Kageyama had told his parents about the training camp they had been relieved he wouldn’t be in the house alone while they traveled abroad during their holidays. They were always doing things like that, leaving the country for their jobs of for their time off. The difference for Kageyama was that this year, it was going to be fun. He was going to be doing something he loved unconditionally, his parents could enjoy their time on whatever beach or resort they had deemed worthy of them. He was going to be playing volleyball.

Today, Kageyama was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest wondering if what was happening in Japan was happening on whatever beach or resort his parents had deemed worthy of them. Since his parents went out of the country so often they must be safer than everyone that is still trapped here in Japan. Or so he kept telling himself.

Three weeks ago, his greatest concern was wins and losses in regards to a match. They had come together with Nekoma, their old rival school, to be able to test their skills against a very powerful team and Kageyama had been thrilled at the prospect. They had arranged matches around promises of good food and the excitement of being in Tokyo for training. And that first week had been great, so great Kageyama hadn’t let himself worry when the teachers and his senpai seemed to gather to have private conversations. When it had been announced that they had received permission to extend the training camp from Karasuno and Nekoma High Schools, Kageyama had been ecstatic. More time to play, more time to hone his skills and to work with Hinata on their Freak Quick. Kageyama hadn’t even stopped to question why they had been allowed an extension.

For the past three hours, his greatest concern was what they were going to lose. After Takeda Sensei had gone missing the night before other things has started to change. The team captains, Kuroo and Daichi had taken lead, organizing and breaking everyone down into groups for new jobs. Some would stay at their base, which was half sleeping quarter half dining area, while most were divided into teams of four to search for Takeda Sensei and “deal with him” whatever that entailed. They’d started searching; and Kageyama had been in a group with two Nekoma players he didn’t really know, the captain, Kuroo, seemed collected in a way that was more active and encouraging than the quiet and rather dark disposition of his friend – the setter Kageyama remembered that much – his name was Kenma. Kageyama didn’t know whether to be grateful or overwhelmed by the fact that one of his own senpai was with him. Tanaka was brash and everything about him was coiled up tension, but Kageyama knew that he could rely on his overemotional senpai.

They had been moving through the lower floor systematically looking in each room in their wing, passing various types of court for different sports and rack upon rack of equipment. Each of them was armed, for better or worse, Kuroo and Tanaka had picked softball bats for themselves (something Kageyama thought Tanaka had made too much of a deal about, using the girl’s equipment) while Kageyama had decided to fashion himself a spear from a mop handle like a few of the others because its reach promised that he wouldn’t have to get near the Adults. Kenma too carried a spear, awkwardly due to its length, and he wasn’t making any effort to use it. Kenma only seemed to continue carrying it because his captain insisted he keep it.

“Kuroo,” Kenma’s voice was cool and steady, “we’ve checked this room already.”

Kageyama had recognized it, the tennis equipment had been left largely untouched when Takeda Sensei had led sweeps of the area for remaining supplies or useful weapons. They had only found some first aid kits and clean towels there.

“Oh, yeah…” Kuroo paused surveying the room and scratching his head, messing up his already rebellious hair. “I suppose I forgot,” Kuroo trailed off into a quiet laugh. The laugh grew louder into a clawing cough.

Once Kuroo had contained his spasm of coughing he spoke “Sorry, don’t know wha—”

“That’s the third time today.” Kenma cut in, “We should go back. You should lie down.” Kenma’s voice was matter-of-fact. He sounded calm enough if not a tad harsh. Kageyama glanced around again before walking over to a stack of unused towels. He scooped some up into his arms.

“We can bring these back. We need new ones.” He said. It was true too, the towels they had grabbed before had all been dirtied by the Adults as they had… needed them.

“Good idea Kageya—” Kuroo was coughing again and this time Kageyama caught the expressions of his other companions. They had looked scared.

Now, sitting back at their base, listening-while-trying-not-to-listen to Kuroo’s hacking coughs Kageyama thought he understood why. His exploration group hadn’t left base since they’d returned with both Kuroo and towels. They’d delivered both to Ennoshita and Shimizu who were the ones in charge of cataloging supplies and since they were in such proximity to “Kyoko-san,” Tanaka had dissolved into trying to help Shimizu, resulting in his overall uselessness. 

_Well, maybe not useless._ Kageyama watched as Shimizu’s legs shook under her while she moved from one side of the room to the other carrying a small container full of cough drops. Tanaka was helping where he could, and it looked like Shimizu could use some help.

Kenma hadn’t left Kuroo’s side, offering him water silently but stubbornly refusing to let up when Kuroo tried to refuse to drink. Kageyama tried not to think about Kuroo being sick. If he had what the Adults all got, there was no helping him. Anyone who might have known how to was long gone.

So, they did all they could do: they waited. Three hours had passed with agonizing slowness already and Kageyama was starting to feel angry. Angry at the fact that this had happened, that this was on them, that they were useless. That nothing seemed safe anymore. They hadn’t found Takeda Sensei. Kuroo was getting worse. They all knew it.

They all did nothing.

Finally, the coughing stopped with a rattling finality. Kageyama looked up from his shoes with a start to look at the small gathering of people around Kuroo, someone he couldn’t see was crying. Then Tanaka was shouting. Tanaka had a habit of being loud before he could be understood but the immediate movement of the others as they stumbled away from Kuroo’s prone body told Kageyama enough. Kuroo wasn’t dead.

It was weird. How Kageyama and Kuroo both pulled themselves to their feet at around the same time. It was the sort of slow motion feeling of wading through thoughts and actions that are too important to mess up but happening to fast to understand. Kuroo was standing. Kuroo was moving directly towards the movement in his line of sight.

Kageyama stumbled backwards as he grabbed for his spear in the face of Kuroo’s speed and ferocity. Somewhere, Tanaka was still shouting and there were other voices as well; people who Kageyama could hear but not see were coming into the room to try and help him. No one, no one was moving as fast as Kuroo was, it was inhuman. Kageyama held his focus, the weight of the spear in his hand, the angle of Kuroo’s charge towards him, the exact spot Kageyama needed to hit if he was going to keep whatever Kuroo was now off of him.

When the spear hit him, Kuroo’s neck jerked backward so sharply Kageyama was surprised the bone hadn’t snapped entirely. Kuroo’s left eye oozed around the spear, blood and jelly-like material collecting around the wooden shaft. Kageyama hadn’t expected it. Shoving a spear though someone’s head, well Kageyama had thought the spear would at least go all the way through. Instead he was left in a morbid form of keep-away, using the spear to push Kuroo backwards by his head, neck forced up so Kuroo was left facing the ceiling while his arms pin wheeled at his sides and his body continued to push towards Kageyama.

Twisting the spear was the only thing Kageyama could think to do. He didn’t try to imagine what was happening to the insides of Kuroo’s head as he made circles with the spear in a stirring motion. He didn’t notice the looks on his teammates and the Nekoma team. He didn’t register the arms that wrapped around him and were pulled him backwards. Tanaka was swearing, he heard that, it was hard not to hear Tanaka. But all Kageyama could really see was the way the Thing that used to be Kuroo crumpled to the ground.

This time he was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooooo kuroo…ha..haha….ha….. i’m sorry. but that’s the rules of this thing man, there is limit where some of them are safe from turning. i’m just not telling you where or what it is >:) cause i’m evil.  
> i’ve got a timeline sorted out for this thing as to when exactly this whole mess diverges from the plot. if you have forgotten the Golden Week training camp happens after their first practice match with seijou but before their shot at the interhigh-perlims (which ends S1 and with them losing to seijou again).  
> now i know that the Golden Week training camp as per canon does not happen in tokyo but at some sort of midway point between miyagi and tokyo. i changed this cause i wanted the chaos of the inner city to be the starting setting. i’ve made some other changes as well but they aren’t thaaaat major and honestly this is the best place to start off this whole thing.  
> this starting point means that the only teams karasuno really knows at this point are aoba jousai and nekoma, as they never got the chance to go up against dateko or any of the others. character development is going to proceed from Golden Week; before team work is seamless and back when everyone is either unpolished or unconfident.


	3. Directions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga POV

Suga dug through his backpack. His extra pen had to be in there. He had had the idea of writing down some sort of plan. A strategy. Now that Takeda Sensei had gone missing, and Suga assumed the worse had happened to him, they needed a plan. He’d been feeling a bit faint lately which made it hard to work like everyone else. The others were all so busy working: ensuring that their floor in Building 3 was safe, that they had enough food, that the Adults couldn't get them and now, searching for Takeda Sensei, Suga had been feeling useless. Out of sorts was the word for it. 

There was a piercing pain behind his eyes which was really a sign of his negligence, the last time he'd had a migraine this bad was because he had let himself get dehydrated. Stressed about his midterms he was too busy studying, he hadn't been drinking enough water and after practice had gone straight home to memorize the next set of dates in the Edo period. Important people who had lived and died and changed Japan in those times. He'd never been good at memorizing dates but the people, he's always liked that part of history.

_Not that that matters now._

He found it. His pen. It had been wedged under his water bottle. That made him think of something. Water. His head was killing him. Suga went back to his plan, he had written down the streets and major highways they’d taken from Miyagi to Nekoma High. He'd always been focused on that sort of thing. Knowing where you are is the most important part of figuring out where you are going, like those dates he'd needed to know. Had those people in those times known the great and terrible things they would be doing? The places they would be going.   
Sitting on his futon clutching his notebook of volleyball plays and street directions it occurred to him that he had no idea where he was. Let alone where he was going.   
They’d known about the medical reports all over japan, strange anomalies. But all of that wasn't in Miyagi so Suga hadn't really cared about them. And he hadn't really thought about it when they had set out for their training camp with Nekoma. When quarantine went up two weeks ago all around Tokyo, he had been scared but he hadn't thought it would be like this. Hadn't thought He'd see this sort of horror.  
The words in his notebook blurred. Suga stood, shakily, he needed to see if there was medicine around or better yet – food. He was starving. Eating was supposed to help migraines. Suga brought his notes with him as he started to head towards where they had decided to set up a makeshift hospital. In all honesty. The ‘hospital’ was just where they’d gathered all the first aid kits to use and count supplies. Earlier on that day Kuroo had been there. Earlier on that day Kuroo had died there.

When Suga got there, he found Ennoshita counting rolls of gauze. He was usually there, said he felt like he was doing something useful. Suga set his notebook down on the table and opened his mouth to ask if there was some aspirin he could have.   
His voice didn't come out.   
"Suga can I help you, and what's that?"  
He’d seen the notebook and directions. "Is that the expressway we took to--"  
Yes. Ennoshita could help him. His head was pounding and in all honesty, he couldn't hear what the other was saying anymore. The pounding in his head was getting to loud. A buzzing and thumping noise he couldn't shake from his ears. Suga felt weak all of a sudden, like his limbs couldn't hold him up anymore, though he didn't fall.   
It, Suga reflected, was all too much. How was he supposed to stand tall and encourage them all? When Takeda Sensei was missing and probably dead. When Kuroo had just gone berserk and tried to kill Kageyama. When the Adults were worse than gone. What was he supposed to do? Where could they even go? He had a list of streets and a pounding skull and his stomach ached with need.   
"Suga, are you okay? Can I get you something? Wait, let me check if…" Ennoshita was looking at him, he’d stood up from gauze counting and proffered a thermometer to Suga.   
Suga moved before he thought. Jerking backwards away from Ennoshita. "Ennnn-"  
It was supposed to be Ennoshita’s name. Suga was trying to talk to him. The boy. With, what was it they had. Something he needed. He was starving. That was it.   
That surge realization was all he needed, Suga dove at Ennoshita, before the boy could make a sound his head slammed back on the table so sharply he was still. Completely still.   
Red seeped into the rolls of gauze on the table. And like the red, a delicious smell seeped up from the boy.   
When he lifted a limp arm to his mouth he bit, chewed, and swallowed – he felt better. His headache was leaving. Perfect. He'd found medicine it was just perfect. He felt stronger than he ever had, refreshed. Alive.   
He took the medicine until the buzzing ache in his stomach – or was it his head? – was gone.   
Be glanced around the room. Something was here. Something important, ahh. There. He picked up the rectangle. It was made of paper. How insubstantial. But he kept it and wandered out of the room down the hall. He had wanted to show the papers to someone hadn't he? Hadn't he?  
He couldn't remember. He kept walking. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Mr. Refreshing strikes again… in the most horrible way  
> …there’s a reason all of the turned zomzoms are called Adults with a capital A. now even if you’ve looked up the rule that Higson uses for dividing up who turns and who is safe, i drew in a more specific line for it (down to the month) so things are still a bit up in the air.  
> i swear that once the introductory period is over the death (of characters you know at least) will slow down and we will get more into the nitty gritty of what survival entails. for now keep wallowing in misery with me cause there are still people left who have yet to turn >:)


	4. Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi POV

Two weeks ago, Daichi had called them all to a team meeting. Golden Week was over and it was the end of their stay in Tokyo so Yamaguchi had assumed the meeting was going to be some sort of recap about how they had all played together, what they still needed to work on. Yamaguchi hadn’t had much time to actually play on the court with Nekoma, but he’d had plenty of time to practice like the rest of them and as a result he was tired and glad to be heading back home to Karasuno and the regular pattern of his life.

“We’ve had a great week. Learnt a lot and improved ourselves.” Daichi stopped for effect and glanced towards Coach Ukai, who nodded. “Now, we’ve received some news from Karasuno.”

The group shifted with nervousness or anticipation, Yamaguchi couldn’t tell which emotion was stronger and he was stuck feeling both. Daichi looked to Suga this time, who smiled at them all before finishing what Daichi had started.

“We’ve been given permission from both Karasuno and Nekoma to stay here for an extended week of practice.” There was an uproar of noise as Noya, Hinata, and Tanaka all but leapt to their feet in excitement. Next to Yamaguchi, Tsukki made a noise of irritation that was probably directed more at the cacophony than at the news of extended practice. 

“But how did you manage that!! Daichi? Suga?” Noya had stopped jumping up and down to ask.

Coach Ukai cleared his throat, “Well, between Takeda Sensei’s efforts and words between us coaches we figured it all out and got it approved. It’s a good chance for us all! Continuing practice as planned will give us that much more of an edge come the Inter-high Prelims. So, use this extra time to hone your skills as a team. Work on building your connections and on you receives!”

“USO!” The team shouted back at him. Yamaguchi’s attention was caught not by his excitable teammates but by Tsukki, who was looking with poorly disguised curiosity at Daichi and Suga who had stood to the side to talk with, was that the teaching-advisor for Nekoma?

“Tsukki?” _What do you think is going on?_ Yamaguchi looked at his friend and suddenly he found himself feeling worried. It must have shown on his face as Tsukki looked at him.

“Don’t mind, Yamaguchi.” Tsukki said calmly. So, he didn’t.

He ignored it as he saw the third years gathering more and more often, not just from Karasuno but from Nekoma, with the teachers and coaches to talk. When Coach Nekomata stopped joining those group meetings was when the tense atmosphere became tangible. Nevertheless, that atmosphere was one that Yamaguchi did his best to avoid, spending his time with Tsukki who was operating pretty much like normal or Hinata and Kageyama, who were just as boisterous and argumentative as usual both thrilled at the chance for an extra week’s practice.

They’d been told that their parents had been contacted by Takeda Sensei; everything was arranged and they were clear to play as before. That everything was normal. Everything was supposed to feel normal. Everything felt wrong.

Yamaguchi and Noya had been left to clean up the court after the third night of their “bonus” practice time. Night was falling so when Yamaguchi heard a loud _THUMP_ on the window he’d jumped at something he couldn’t see while Noya had laughed at his skittishness and bounded across the room to look out the barred windows. Noya went deathly pale and stared intently outside for so long that Yamaguchi had gone over to investigate.

A hand, mangled with two fingers missing, beat slowly and erratically against the pane of glass. Yamaguchi felt himself making a sort of strangled noise while he stared at the remaining fingers as they curled into the palm, nails tearing flesh as the fist, beat-beat-beatbeat. Noya muttered something about pranks and how uncool scaring people out of their mind is how _itcouldntbereal_. Everything was wrong.

When Yamaguchi and Noya had returned to their team’s sleeping quarters Noya practically charged Daichi demanding an explanation. Yamaguchi had stayed in the doorway feeling nervous. Whatever answer they got from Daichi and the adults would end something. End the practice week. End their “bonus” time. Yamaguchi didn’t want it to end. He saw Tsukki sitting in the corner of the room watching Daichi as Noya practically vibrated with misguided indignation.

“What’s going on Daichi?! Why are we here, really?! This—” Noya cut off to wave frantically around the room at the gathered kids. All of Karasuno was present and some Nekoma kids were still up spending time with their friends. “What was that Yamaguchi and I saw outside, Daichi?” Noya’s voice had grown deadly calm and his expression shadowed as he spoke, his full attention on the Captain.

Yamaguchi felt a whoosh of pressure through the room at the mention of his name, as his teammates eyes fleeted over to look at him before darting back to Daichi and Noya. Tsukki had stood up unnoticed by most everyone and moved closer to him. Yamaguchi didn’t want to talk about the hand on the window. Didn’t want to talk about the face that was behind that hand. He squeezed his eyes shut and brought his hands to his face trying not to think about how utterly inhuman that face had looked, its jaw disconnected and teeth coated in blood. Yamaguchi could feel Tsukki’s gaze on him as they stood together in the doorway, he couldn’t stop shaking. His hands, his knees, his head. _No._ Yamaguchi didn’t want to talk about it.

Tsukki sighed at the same time that Daichi cleared his throat. Attention focused like a spotlight on Daichi who, Yamaguchi saw peeking between his fingers, looked grim – no one had to explain the face to Daichi, he knew. “The reason that we have had this extra week is because Tokyo is under quarantine.”

It had all happened too fast at that point. They were told of news reports Yamaguchi hadn’t bothered to listen to and of hospital results that didn’t make sense. It all came to the same point, that the matter was bleak. It wasn’t just Tokyo under quarantine now but the entirety of Japan, across the country people were locked in their homes, everything was shut down. People were dying. People were worse than dead. Coach Ukai had proved that. Then Takeda Sensei went missing.

People had been sent out to search and still no one had found him, it had been nearly two days. The captains had split up command, Daichi choosing to stay near where they had barricaded themselves to get organized and figure out what they would do now the Adults were gone, and Kuroo splitting up the majority of the kids into groups of four to search. Kuroo had come back sick. Then Kageyama had… had… Yamaguchi didn’t want to think about that.

Yamaguchi had stayed with Tsukki as a part of Daichi’s side of things, close to their home of the past few weeks, Yamaguchi had felt useless. He always seemed to be sitting on the sidelines watching what was happening around him. But right now, he couldn’t manage more. Whenever he stood his legs felt heavy and his heart beat too fast and he just: froze. The others were running around doing something, anything. Daichi was calm and collected, but he was pale under the strain of what was happening, Shimizu also must have been under a lot of stress, Yamaguchi had seen her run her fingers through her hair only to lose strands of it tangled around her fingers. Of course, it was understandable – Daichi was in charge and it was Shimizu who had been trying so hard to help Kuroo and the Adults as they had died.

“Yamaguchi.” Tsukki’s voice made him jump, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry Tsukki.” _What?_ Yamaguchi looked over at his friend, Tsukki had his headphones over his ears and Yamaguchi could hear music coming out of them. It was a wonder Tsukki could hear the words they were saying to each other at all.

“Get some water.”

“Water?” _What for?_ Yamaguchi looked confused. Tsukki looked irritated.

Then Tsukki sighed, and tugged his headphones down so they hung around his neck. No longer muffled, the music grew loud enough for Yamaguchi to pick out that it was something classical. “You look pale. Get some water.”

Yamaguchi didn’t move. Just stared at Tsukki, there were small worry lines in his forehead. After a brief moment of silence Tsukki added, “Get me some too, I’m kind of thirsty.”

“Okay Tsukki.” It was something to do, Yamaguchi decided. When he pushed himself up from the floor he found that his legs weren’t so unsteady. He could move.

Something to do. As Yamaguchi walked over to the hallway he saw Suga coming towards him. The older boy had vanished some time ago after writing vigorously in his notebook, something which Yamaguchi had noticed but not really remembered happening until he saw Suga again. He looked unsteady. _He’s fine_. Yamaguchi told himself as he kept going to get Tsukki’s water and Suga walked past him into the main room. _Suga is always fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway sorry this chapter is a lot of recap and i swear when i started this out i meant for the recap to be really… well… short. needless to say it ended up taking up the whole chapter. so. yeah. nothing super new. but you have YAMS POV which makes me incredibly happy, yamaguchi is the best and this poor guy is in for a whole lot of change that he very much doesn’t want to think about.  
> i said it before under hinata’s chapter but i’m going to say it again here. characters are going to start out wimpy cause they have no idea what’s even going on. recall, Golden Week happens before yamaguchi even has the chance to pinch serve in a match, let alone be successful in his serves and gain confidence. poor guy hasn’t had a chance to prove himself yet, his time is coming. just not too soon. chaos must rain down on these poor kids first.


	5. Crescendo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukki POV
> 
> This is the song he's listening to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3217H8JppI

Tsukishima had listened to every song on this playlist. Well, he’d skipped every song on the playlist about four seconds in. But the music just wasn’t the same. The words were pointless and the melody just wasn’t right. He sighed and changed playlists. Beethoven’s 9th Concerto. He’d always liked the Classical period of music. It would rise and fall, switching up pace effortlessly which would keep the piece moving with ease.  As the music fell into one of its quieter motions Tsukishima opened his eyes briefly to gather his surroundings, as much as he wanted to be lost in the music it wasn’t wise to be.

Next to him, Yamaguchi was rigid. Which was so vastly different from the frenzied movement of those in the room and from the music in his ears that Tsukishima opened his mouth to comment.

“Yamaguchi…” When the boy didn’t move Tsukishima clicked his tongue.

“Yamaguchi.” He jumped, as if Tsukishima had pulled him from in depth thought.

“ _Sorry Tsukki_.” Tsukishima didn’t need to be able to hear him to know what Yamaguchi had said, it was a line so frequently spoken that he could conjure up the sound of Yamaguchi’s voice without trying.

“Get some water.” Tsukishima thought that Yamaguchi looked sick, probably with worry. It wasn’t uncommon for Yamaguchi to get caught up in events and forget to do basic things like eat and drink.

“ _Water_?” Tsukishima read the question on Yamaguchi’s lips, he looked lost. It was as worrying as it was irritating, how Yamaguchi sometimes didn’t think to look after himself.

Tsukishima pulled his headphones down around his neck, letting the music go was unsettling, the room felt silent without strings and piccolo to fill in the background, but Tsukishima needed to make sure Yamaguchi knew he was serious. “You look pale. Get some water.”

Yamaguchi didn’t move. Just stared at him as if he was waiting for a reason why he should get up. As if getting himself water wasn’t a concern he had at that point in time. After a brief moment of silence Tsukishima decided to add, “Get me some too, I’m kind of thirsty.”

“Okay Tsukki.” As Yamaguchi stood Tsukishima was afraid the other boy would topple over, but as he righted himself and started to walk with single-minded purpose towards the supply of water Tsukishima felt relieved. If Yamaguchi was in action, there was less to worry about.

Tsukishima pulled his headphones back up, the concerto was gaining momentum. He was about to close his eyes as he noticed Suga returning into the room. He looked, quite frankly, a mess. His hair was out of place and even from this distance, Tsukishima could see that Suga’s eyes were bloodshot. _Had he been sleeping at all?_

Suga was walking towards Tsukishima holding up his notebook where he often wrote strategies for their matches. That was unusual. Normally Suga would have gone to someone else, anyone else, if he wanted to discuss plays for a match. Suga knew how Tsukishima simply wasn’t interested. But here was Suga, coming straight for him. It was unusual yes, but it shouldn’t have been unnerving.

The music was just completing one of its segments as Suga knelt in front of Tsukishima and wordlessly held out his notebook. Tsukishima looked at the book then noticed something that was diffidently off. He found himself staring at Suga’s hands, coated in the same reddish-brown that was splattered across the cover of the little book.

Taken aback, Tsukishima looked at Suga properly. His eyes were far worse than bloodshot, like Tsukishima had first thought, but actually bleeding at the corners like tears out of a horror movie. Suga was smiling, which was such a normal expression for him that seeing it now was disgusting. Teeth stained pink and lips stretched so wide they had begun to crack and split. Suga licked his bleeding lips, his face edging closer to Tsukishima’s.

Tsukishima felt the notebook thud against his chest pushing him backwards into the wall, forcing his shoulder blades painfully into the surface. The concerto was quiet in his ears and Suga was entirely too close to him and everything was still. Suga released the book, it fell unnoticed into Tsukishima’s lap as Suga’s hands rose together slowly and eerily in sync with the now rising music and closed his fingers closed around Tsukishima’s throat. A vice that left Tsukishima gasping for both air and thought. The music swelled and his limbs fought of their own accord, desperate to free him and his short-circuiting mind from Suga’s grasp.

The music was a crescendo and Tsukishima’s body had finally stopped jerking for air. His limbs were heavy, sinking into the floor as the wall tried to absorb his spine. Tsukishima ached and his eyes were starting to close from the weight of it all. And then

It was gone.

Tsukishima almost choked more on the air his enthusiastic lungs caught then under Suga’s hands, he was coughing and his throat was raw but he could see Yamaguchi and Kageyama wrestling Suga backwards and away from him. Yamaguchi was using his spear to clothesline Suga, pinning Suga between the spear and his own body to keep Suga upright but captive. Yamaguchi was clearly shouting, although Tsukishima couldn’t hear anything outside of his headphones. Kageyama was saying nothing, while Suga continued to struggle pointedly towards Tsukishima.

Tsukishima numbly picked up the notebook that was sitting in his lap and stood shakily. Suddenly Suga froze, staring at him. Then Suga’s head snapped sideways, Kageyama’s spear protruding from his eye socket. The force of Kageyama’s strike whipped Suga’s head too far to the side and Yamaguchi dropped his spear, leaping backwards with his hands covering ears. Without Yamaguchi for support, Suga’s body crumpled to the ground, angled awkwardly due to the spear still lodged in his face.

Kageyama pushed Suga’s body onto its back then put his foot on Suga’s chest so he could begin to tug at the spear. It took three pulls to dislodge it and with each heave Suga’s head was lifted off the floor, thudding against the ground with each pause. Yamaguchi now had his arms wrapped so tightly around himself that his knuckles had turned white and his eyes were wide as he stared at Suga’s body.

Tsukishima stopped watching and looked down to the notebook in his hands, the cover smeared with dried blood. He opened it and flipped through the pages. Suga’s setting signals were shown with little diagrams as well as different approaches for spikes. In the last few pages was a series of instructions and street names. At the top of the directions was the heading: Back Home.

There was a tap on Tsukishima’s shoulder and he glanced up. Kageyama was looking sullen and glaring at him, he gestured to his ears. Tsukishima pulled his headphones down grimacing at the silence.

“You—” Kageyama seemed to be struggling to speak “okay…?”

Tsukishima took a moment to register what Kageyama had said to him before he managed to speak normally. “Ooooh wow, the King comes in to save us peasants. Should I be flattered?”

Kageyama seemed to swell with rage but instead of a retort he turned to quickly stalk away. Tsukishima didn’t hear whatever insults were being thrown his way but he could guess the content. By force of habit he looked towards Yamaguchi as if he was waiting on some response for his comment to Kageyama. Yamaguchi was staring at Suga rocking himself from side to side.

“Yamaguchi.” This time, Yamaguchi looked up at his name the first time it was called. Like he had been waiting for it.

“Tsukki…” Yamaguchi’s face was wet with tears as he stared at Tsukishima, his lip quivered.

“Let’s go.” Tsukishima didn’t want to stay any longer, not there in that room. There was a thought nagging at the back of his mind, a concern he had to look into.

Yamaguchi nodded slowly and followed Tsukishima as he started down the hallway Suga had come from. Tsukishima noticed that Yamaguchi was sticking even closer to him than he had before, but it was understandable. Tsukishima squeezed the spine of the notebook in his hand, the metal spiral indenting his palm. It wasn’t sharp enough to cause bleeding even if Tsukishima used more force he knew it wasn’t the cause of all the blood. The blood on Suga’s hands and spattered across the notebook. 

The hallway was dark, the power had been out for several days now and there were no windows to allow natural light. There was, however, a source of light as one of the doors was hanging open and the dying sun stretched out. Tsukishima walked briskly towards the doorway, took a steadying breath, and then looked in.

It was the “hospital” room. The light that filtered in through the window caught on something white and glistening; it caught on bone. Tsukishima jerked backwards shock etched onto his face. Whatever had happened in the main room with Suga was nothing in comparison to this. To Ennoshita with the skin on his arm and chest pealed back. To seeing exposed bone set in torn muscle and tendon.

To Ennoshita. Dead.

To the knowledge of what – no – who had clearly killed him. Ennoshita’s blood had started to rub off the notebook clutched in Tsukishima’s sweaty hand, the moisture and blood made his hand sticky. Tsukishima felt ill.

“…Tsukki?” Yamaguchi was looking at him. He looked terrified and Tsukishima realized his shock from the room had not gone unnoticed. Yamaguchi was edging around him to try and see what had bothered him.

“No.” Yamaguchi stopped moving and shot him a look that Tsukishima didn’t wait to define. “Don’t.” Yamaguchi’s face resolved into an expression sturdier than before and he nodded. He didn’t look. Tsukishima released a sigh of relief before he could stop it.

“Let’s go, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi started walking back to the main room. Looking over his shoulder, presumably to make sure Tsukishima was still following.

He was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last thoughts for suga, if you remember his chapter leaves with suga grabbing that notebook and thinking about how he really needs to do something. that something is get the directions to someone competent to use them and get everyone back to miyagi. tsukki is apparently competent.   
> i feel like my reasoning for ruthless-killer-kags needs explanation. i’m going off the fact that when they had their first match against aoba jousai someone asks kags if it will be hard for him to play a match against kindaichi and kunimi cause they were his old teammates in junior high. kags says that since they are his opponents he is okay with it, but that it would be harder for him to work with them if they were on the same team. kags knows the zom zoms are not the same as his old teammates and has no problem dealing with them because they are now the opponents. following the notion with the whole kindaichi kunimi thing, kags would have a really hard time teaming up with old enemies even if it is against a common enemy such as the zoms. that’s all for now folks! see those of you who don’t hate me for killing suga next week


	6. Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noya POV

When he’d first seen them, Noya hadn’t thought they could be real. A prank. A joke. It. Couldn’t. Be. Real. When he’d seen the mangled hand smearing blood against the window he’d ignored Yamaguchi’s whine of horror and stared. Then they’d seen the Adult. Its eyes had been bleeding and its jaw hung slack, partially disconnected from its face and Noya had known. No prank was that good. No joke was that real.

Daichi’s admission of the truth had been the end of the world.

Noya had felt winded at the news of insane and sick Adults and the quarantine, but it lasted only a moment. He was a man of action, and if this was the new thing to guard against then Noya was going to be prepared. He’d gotten Tanaka to join him in gathering weapons in the form of sports equipment, and when they’d returned with arms full of softball bats Takeda Sensei and the team Captains had organized wider searches for useful equipment. Noya had joined those sweeps and had since seen plenty of proof that the Adults were very real and that they weren’t going away.

The problem with the Nekoma Sports Center was that it had so many windows. It was impossible to go anywhere without seeing outside, without seeing them because outside was where all the Adults were. During the day, there were less of them as they didn’t seem to like the sun, but as the light faded they would come out to shamble around. In the light of the moon they were even more terrifying, monsters built of shadow and death. Noya didn’t go anywhere without his bat.

When jobs had been assigned, Noya had jumped at the chance to guard the main entrance. He felt that there, he actually had control of what was happening around him. Supplies and medicine and search parties, all of those where unknowns. When would supplies run out, would medicines work, would they find what they were looking for? Noya didn’t like unknowns. So, when Takada Sensei had gone missing Noya had insisted that a few people maintain guard duty to ensure that Takeda Sensei couldn’t get out of the building and so that, more importantly, none of the other Adults came in.

Noya had been on guard since Takeda Sensei went missing almost two days prior, those who accompanied him switched around, first Kinnoshita had been with him and then Yaku, the libero for Nekoma’s team. Currently it was Asahi who was sitting on guard staring at the barricaded doors that Noya kept pacing back and forth in front of. Each new partner had tried and failed to persuade Noya to leave his post and get some rest, but Noya couldn’t sleep so what was the point in sitting on the sidelines doing nothing when he could be doing something useful.

The sun was starting to set and Noya looked across the street at the lines of trees there. Shingo Park was often used as a location for festivals according to Yaku, but now in May the blossoms on the cherry trees had all fallen. Some of the paths in the park were covered in piles of crushed petals, others would scatter with a slight wind to be trampled by Adults as night fell. The park was full of them; of Adults. The falling sun illuminated the shapes of people-not-people moving irregularly between the trees and getting stuck on park benches or low hanging branches. Noya thought it was almost comical, how dumb the Adults where now, but he knew that as the sun continued to set the Adults would get braver and come closer to the doors to bang their hands on the door and smash their faces to the glass, swollen and blistered tongues lolling out to smear the panes. They were disgusting and stupid and as long as Noya was there, they wouldn’t get inside.

One of the Adults was shambling up to the door and pressed boil covered hands to the glass. Its hands were missing several fingernails and as it drew back a fist to strike the glass one of the boils burst, yellowed puss clung to the glass and oozed down the door. The Adult kept beating slowly on the glass and Noya moved to he was standing directly in front of it and tapped the glass. He was delighted to see the reaction he got from the Adult which started to beat with a frenzied speed, a fat purple tongue lolling out to touch the glass. Noya had done this so many times before with various Adults, they couldn’t get through the doors no matter how much they hit, but it didn’t stop them from breaking their hands on the glass.

“This dumb bastard!” Noya laughed and continued to tap different parts of the door to draw the Adult’s attention.

“N-noya, are you sure… is that a good idea?” Asahi spoke up, voice weak.

“Asahi! I did this all last night, they can’t get in.” Noya turned away from the Adult and looked back at Asahi who was crouched by the wall trying make himself small with his hands up on his neck. “Come’ere” Noya beckoned for Asahi to stand.

When Asahi didn’t budge a muscle, Noya strode across the room and grabbed fistfuls of his friend’s shirt and attempted to drag him to his feet. On his own Noya couldn’t have gotten Asahi to move, but the larger boy stood slowly under Noya’s insistence. “Noya, I don’t think—”

Noya wasn’t listening. With Asahi on his feet Noya wanted him to move to the doors. To look outside and see the Adults. To face what was out there instead of hiding in the corner. “Look at it Asahi. It’s not scary, it’s dumb and broken. Look at it!”

Noya pushed and shoved Asahi into place so he was face to face with the Adult on the other side of the glass. Noya knocked on the glass in front of the Adult’s face and laughed as the Adult lunged at and bounced off the glass, causing Asahi to leap backwards with a yelp.

“You big coward, I’ve told you it can’t get in!” Noya couldn’t stop laughing at the look on Asahi’s face. He seriously was a coward.

“D-don’t do that!” Asahi sounded indignant which Noya thought was an improvement from afraid. Asahi was actually _looking_ at the Adult now, staring at it while it stared back at him beating the glass. Asahi reached up to cup the back of his neck with his hand before pointing with his free hand at the Adult. “How old do you think he is?”

Noya hadn’t thought about it and looked at the Adult. It looked male as Asahi had implied but it was wearing what looked like the Nekoma school uniform. “Damn, I wonder if any of the Nekoma guys here new this bastard.”

“But, if he’s our age… why is he…” Asahi trailed off staring at the Adult.

“Sick? Who the hell knows?! As long as it doesn’t get to us I don’t care.” Noya turned away from the Adult. Taunting it didn’t seem quite as fun as it had been before.

“How—” Asahi broke off and swallowed loudly enough for Noya to hear. “How do you know we won’t get sick?”

Noya spun around and stared at Asahi. What was wrong with this guy? Of course they wouldn’t, they weren’t adults they weren’t anything like the rotting bastards outside! How could Asahi not see!?

“Noya, that guy’s in high school. Like us. Like Kuroo and—”

“What do you mean like Kuroo?” Noya interrupted. What had happened with the Nekoma captain that suddenly made him relevant?

Asahi just stared at Noya, hand on the back of his neck, self-conscious. “Kuroo got sick and ended up like…” Asahi gestured towards the Adult pressed against the door. Two more Adults had joined him now, clearly much older than he was. The sun was going down.

“Holy shit.” Noya shook his head. “Still doesn’t matter, we’ll be fine. I guess he was just more of an adult or something.” Noya shrugged indifference but paused when he noticed Asahi’s expression. “What!?” Noya snapped.

“I’m older than him.” Asahi mumbled.

“Than who?” Noya asked. But with dawning dread, he knew.

“Than Kuroo.”

Noya forced a laugh, “You can’t be, big baby like you!” Noya jumped up to slap Asahi’s shoulder. As his hand struck Asahi’s shoulder blade he felt something burst under his hand and Asahi made a sharp exclamation of pain. “What the hell?” Noya demanded.

Asahi shuffled away from Noya quickly, hand going up to his neck again but this time, Noya noticed them. A cluster of boils, some popped and others swollen painfully, crowded around Asahi’s right ear and trailed down his neck and beyond the line of his shirt collar. Noya felt his throat close up entirely as he looked. Asahi’s expression was one of despair.

“I haven’t been doing so well Noya…” Asahi was looking at him imploringly. “I’m pretty si—”

“NO!” Noya roared. “No! You’re fine. You will be FINE!”

“No, Noya. I’m going to end up like him.” Asahi looked unusually calm as he pointed over his shoulder at the Adult in the Nekoma uniform. Asahi was like that, he would be the only one freaking out or he would be the only one left who was calm and now that Noya felt like electricity was running through his body – Asahi was going to be downright _peaceful_.

Asahi turned his back to Noya and used one hand to pull his hair up and his other hand to pull at the collar of his shirt. The revealed skin was covered with open sores and glistening angry red boils. Noya felt a prickling at his eyes and scrunched his face tight to hold back tears, he couldn’t look away.

“It’s all ove—” Asahi broke off to cough, doubling almost in half with the effort of it. “It’s all over me.” Asahi didn’t turn to look at Noya, just stared out the glass at the group of Adults that had gathered there. With the sun almost gone there were around seven Adults gathered and pressing against the glass. “I haven’t told the other’s yet.”

Noya had to take a moment to clear his too tight throat, “You don’t have to tell them! There’s nothing wrong with you! You’ll be fine!” Asahi didn’t say anything, his body eerie as he stood staring out of the glass. Outside, the Adults that had been clawing the glass in hopes of reaching Asahi seemed to calm. No longer frantic to get inside with Noya out of sight the Adults seemed not to care that Asahi was right in front of them.

“ASAHI!” Noya charged his friend determined for an answer, determined to convince him that he’d be fine, Noya grabbed the taller man’s arm and pulled at it to turn him around.

This couldn’t be real. Asahi tilted his head to the side and looked at Noya like he was starving and Noya was a five course meal. “Hahaha, Asahi? Not a good joke man.” Noya dropped Asahi’s arm and stepped backwards. “Not coo—”

Asahi made a swipe to grab at Noya but he was too small and too fast for Asahi to catch. Noya found himself shouting things like: “Snap out of it!” and “Asahi! What the hell?!” But nothing in Asahi showed any signs of the person he used to be. There was no fear or nervousness, no kind softness. What was there was the face of a dead man.

“Noya-Senpaaaai!!!” A voice rang out that was so clearly and confusingly Hinata’s that it pulled Noya back to reality. Asahi was bearing down on him, but Noya managed to duck between his legs and sprint for the stairs where Hinata and his search party stood staring.

“GO!” Screamed Noya, “RUN!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: ooooo cliffhanger. do you all hate me for it? one more turned, but so many left to go.   
>  a word on POVs. the POVs you can expect to appear in a revolving sort of pattern and have a lot of insight into are the karasuno first years: hinata, kageyama, tsukki, and yamaguchi. these four are the consistent protags of this story. any other POV will appear once or sometimes twice for the sake of fleshing out some angle of the story as i see fit.


	7. A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata POV

“GO!” Noya screamed, “RUN!”

Hinata didn’t pause to question his senpai. He ran. His body screamed in protest, his legs were wobbly and he still shaken by the aftereffects of dry heaving after what had happened with Takeda Sensei but Hinata pushed his legs harder; keeping at Noya’s side as the five of them pelted up the stairs. Each set of doors they passed through they flung shut behind them and when they reached the section of the building that the rest of the kids had barricaded they waited gasping for air and pounding on the door.

“Let. Us. In. Assholes.” Noya gasped between each word while he hit his fist on the door.

“Hurry it up before we die out here!” Lev whined and knocked as well, easily hitting on the door above Noya’s head.

The door was flung open and the group pushed through, then the door slammed behind them as the three boys that had been working to open the door quickly went about rebuilding the barricade.

“What the _hell_ was that?!” Taketora was pointing at the blockaded door while staring at Noya looking horrified. Hinata felt like rocks had been placed in his stomach as he looked between the two of them.

“He got sick.” Noya spat his words like acid and their meaning burnt at Hinata. Asahi got sick. Asahi was just like them. He wasn’t a teacher or a coach. Asahi wasn’t an adult! Hinata squeezed his hands into fists to keep them from shaking the way his legs were. If Asahi could get sick, who else might?

“NOYA!” Tanaka, who looked like he’d been helping in the hospital with his arms full of first aid kits, appeared and dove at the group. Dropping the medical supplies, he pulled Noya into a huge hug. Tanaka released Noya when he didn’t return the hug to instead throw a heavy arm around Hinata’s shoulders. The weight of Tanaka’s arm grounded Hinata making him feel calmer.

“It’s so good you all are back, some serious shit hit the fan here.” Tanaka said, looking around at their dark expressions before squeezing Hinata’s shoulders a bit.

“We found Takeda Sensei. He’s dead.” Taketora said glancing from Tanaka to Noya trying to goad the later to speak up.

“Asahi…” Noya voice faded as if the air had suddenly been taken from his lungs.

Tanaka seemed to be taking in the situation and after what felt like an infinite silence he spoke bluntly, “Is he dead or did he go crazy?”

Noya didn’t speak but the look on his face seemed to be enough for Tanaka who ran a hand over his buzzed hair mumbling through gritted teeth, “Who next?”

“Who next? This happened to other kids?!” Taketora’s words ripped the heavy weight of dread in Hinata’s stomach, the emptiness left behind in his shock made it so Hinata didn’t know if he was winded or if he needed to throw up again.

“You guys don’t know? Damnit. Well, Kuroo and—” Tanaka began but Lev interjected.

“Kuroo! Our Kuroo!?” Lev’s eyes were gleaming and Hinata couldn’t tell if it was grief or something like eagerness.

“Yeah and… Suga.” Tanaka’s free hand clenched and Hinata could feel Tanaka’s body tense. “They lost it.” Tanaka looked down at Hinata who felt himself leaning on Tanaka, unable to hold his own weight anymore. “Even that bastard Ennoshita died on us…” Tanaka finished vibrating slightly with emotion but maintaining full support of Hinata’s weight.

“Anyway, Daichi called for a meeting.” Tanaka gave Hinata a little push and swiftly kicked Noya in the shin. “Let’s meet up before he gets mad.”

Hinata stumbled at the push but gathered his strength to move under his own will. When he entered the room where they all slept he saw that both teams were gathered there, sitting on stacks of futons and talking in hushed and worried voices. Not everyone was back yet, a group of Nekoma second and third years that Hinata hadn’t known well was still out searching for Takeda Sensei and of course, there were the obvious absences of Suga, Ennoshita, and the Nekoma Captain Kuroo.

Shimizu was also missing from the group but Tanaka said something to Taketora about she and Kinnoshita taking care of “the bodies.” It made Hinata shudder to think about it. Instead, Hinata focused on looking for his friends. Kenma was sitting in a corner far removed from the group and Kageyama was similarly distanced from everyone but standing and glaring around the room. Yamaguchi was sitting with Tsukishima, of course, but neither were talking and Hinata noticed dark green and purple bruises encircling Tsukishima’s neck.

 _Some serious things hit the fan here._ It didn’t look like Tanaka had been exaggerating. A part of Hinata wanted to know what had happened but mostly, he wanted to get out of there. Out of the room, out of Nekoma, out of Tokyo. Hinata wanted to go home to his family. To his sister. _Natsu!_ How had he not thought of her before now, she would be home alone and scared if their parents had gotten sick like the other adults. Hinata had wasted so much time. _Wasted enough time!_ He realized he was still holding his bat, clutching it tighter, and going to stand by Kageyama.

“ _Kageyama!_ ” Hinata hissed, pulling Kageyama by the elbow to he could speak directly into his ear. “We have to go back to Miyagi. We have to go home, my sis—”

“Everyone be quiet now.” Daichi’s voice rang out, demanding attention. “Thank you.” He said to the newly found silence.

“Here is how things are: we’ve been here for three weeks, in that time all of the Adults have either died or _turned_ into something else. Of the teams we sent out to look for Takeda Sensei, one team is still not back: Narita Kasuhito, Fukunaga Shohei, Yaku Morisuke, and Kai Nobuyuki are not here to listen to this meeting and as of right now I am going to assume we will not be seeing them any time soon.” Noises of protest rose from the room and Daichi raised a tired arm to counter it.

“I am not saying they are dead, but after two nights out there they are probably barricaded somewhere else in the building and won’t be back until tomorrow if not later so it is the people here right now who will be deciding what we do next as we are running out of time to wait.” Daichi lowered his arm and looked expectantly around the room, when no counter rose he continued.

“Most of you were here when Kuroo got sick.” Daichi paused. “For those of you that weren’t I’ll say this, he got sick and went wild. He attacked Kageyama and now he is dead.” Everyone in the room seemed to be trying to avoid looking at Kageyama. As Daichi continued speaking Hinata stared up at Kageyama and tugged on his arm and mouthed, _Are you okay?_

Kageyama only shrugged, staring straight ahead of him in a way that made it seem like he wasn’t looking at anything at all. “—Now that more or less the same has happened with Suga and, as I am told by Noya, Asahi. We have to take into consideration the event of others here falling ill. _Additionally_ ,” Daichi had to raise his voice to keep being heard over the rising tide of everyone’s whispers. “Additionally, stocks of food here are running rather low and we need to find a solution to restock. Ideas for what people want to do now are welcome.”

The room dissolved into noise as people anxiously turned to their neighbors to agonize over the question _What next?_ Hinata didn’t really listen to what everyone was saying because he already knew what he wanted to do. He tugged on Kageyama’s arm again.

“Kag-eh-ya-maaa” Hinata hissed in what was only a whisper because of the noise in the room.

“What!” Kageyama snapped back at him his face looked downright evil and Hinata cowered, taking a step back.

“W-we” Hinata stopped to calm himself with a breath and when he spoke again he felt invincible. “We need to go back Miyagi!”

Hinata couldn’t help remembering one time back in junior high. He had been so excited about the newest release of his favourite manga and had used the overall noise of the classroom during a lunch break to talk with one his friends in the class that liked the same series. It was an interest both boys kept secret as it was rather embarrassing series to like, one that elementary school kids enjoyed. Hinata didn’t see why he should outgrow it when it was still so fun, full of super heroes and adventures, he’d loved it. During that lunch period, he had just gotten to discussing his favourite point of the chapter and his voice had risen louder under the cover of the general noise in the class. Except the noise in the class had stopped. He had chosen the quietest moment in the room to exclaim loudly and excitedly and because of this, everyone in the class was silent and staring in his direction, everyone had heard him.

That was what it felt like now. Hinata had finally said aloud how he needed to go back home and in that moment the room was silent and everyone was looking at him.

“I—” Hinata gulped. “I mean, we… Kageyama and I—”

“Don’t pull me into this dumbass!” Kageyama berated.

“Fine then! _I_ want to go back to Miyagi! I have a sister and I need to go find her! I mean, if our parents are gone…” Hinata grew quiet for a split second before speaking again, “We need to get back! Tokyo isn’t our home!” He was staring at Daichi hoping to get him to understand his need to get out of this building.

“Yeah!” Tanaka was the first person to speak after Hinata’s announcement and the sense of relief that one word gave Hinata was immeasurable. “Yeah! Let’s go back to Miyagi!”

The room dissolved again in to questions, logistics, and concerns. How would they get there? Who would go? Was it safe? What would the Nekoma kids do? Hinata let the noise wash over him buzzing with excitement. He would be going back. Tanaka would be going with him and Kag— _Would Kageyama go with them? It didn’t sound like he wanted to come._

“We took a bus to get here! We can take it out!” Tanaka announced looking around. The Karasuno team gave a general noise of approval and even some of the Nekoma team looked interested at the prospect of getting out of the city.

“Takeda Sensei had the keys.” Daichi’s voice once again brought quiet to the room but with it came the stillness of fear.

“I’ll get them.” Kageyama’s voice was met with odd looks of dislike and disgust. Hinata didn’t understand the expressions aimed towards Kageyama but he was to focused on and could hardly believe what Kageyama had just said.

“You don’t know where the keys are!” accused someone Hinata couldn’t see.

“I do.” Taketora was eyeing Kageyama with an impressed expression. “I’ll go too.”

“Alright with that we need to discuss—” Daichi began but was cut off by Kinnoshita running into the room at top speed.

“Shimizu Senpai she,” Kinnoshita looked pale as he stammered, “she’s locked herself in the hospital room and s-she she’s sick. She’s so sick.”

Tanaka and Noya were the first to move followed quickly by Taketora and several others. Hinata ran after them because that seemed to be the thing everyone was doing. The hospital door was closed, when they found it, several things were piled up filling the hallway to block the door.

“What bastard did this!” Shouted Noya while climbing over the barricade on their side of the door trying to get to it and into the room. A hand hit the small glass pane in the door and Noya toppled backwards swearing. Despite his height, Hinata could see past those in front of him well enough to see who was the one to hit the glass.

Shimizu Senpai had blood smeared across her face and mouth, her glasses were missing. Her eyes were wrong. Hinata ducked his head and retreated, running blindly down the hallway. When he reached the main room he doubled over retching. Stomach bile dripped from his lips and his mouth tasted foul. Shaking and breathing hard, Hinata scrubbed his sweaty palms on his shorts. He was so tired of all of this.

He just wanted to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> starts the chapter with the last line of the previous chapter (maybe they won’t notice :] ) anywhoo things are really coming together FINALLY. all the timelines are together and all the characters have met up. setting the stage is done! time to actually start moving forward with this damn thing. part one has two more chapters and then we’ll be moving on to part two: the grand road trip back home!


	8. Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama POV

Kageyama watched as people ran from the room, Hinata had sprinted out like almost everyone else but Kageyama didn’t feel the urge to chase him. Kinnoshita was approaching Daichi and Kageyama overheard,

“I- she told me to block the other side of the door, I grabbed a bench and some things but…” Kinnoshita trailed off as Daichi stood.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it will be enough for one, just look at how the main entrance holds up.” Daichi took several steps as he was speaking but stopped short, holding a hand to his brow in concentration.  It was a lot to think about, a lot of variables to balance. Kageyama thought it must be like trying to decide which spiker in a synchro attack to toss to, except this was like making the decision without knowing where the blockers where. It was a blind choice and Kageyama didn’t fancy being stuck like Daichi was between bad options.

Kageyama was thinking about the keys. Taketora and himself would be a small group but he thought they would be effective, fast. They could go straight for the keys and then come back. Daichi had mentioned something about Asahi turning like Suga had. Kageyama knew he needed to find Noya if he wanted to learn more about that but Noya had gone with almost everyone else to see what had happened with Shimizu.

“Daichi!” The worried shout caught his attention and Kageyama watched numbly as Daichi fell to the floor. Kinnoshita was bending over Daichi saying his name and asking if he was okay. Daichi didn’t answer. Across the room Kageyama saw the reactions of the three others who remained in the room. Yamaguchi pale and staring had his mouth hanging open like he wanted to yell something and next to him Tsukishima sat expressionless and staring. Kenma sat in the corner, head resting on his knees and showing no signs of noticing what was happening. Kageyama stood where he was, arms hanging useless at his sides and mind replaying the way Daichi had crumpled: knees, elbows, head. Thud, thud, thud.

Kageyama watched as Kinnoshita’s insistent voice pulled the others back into the room. The crowd entered looking confused and afraid but upon seeing Daichi everyone looked petrified. Asking questions, people seemed to swarm Kinnoshita demanding to know what had happened. Would Daichi be alright? What were they going to do? As if mere proximity to Daichi was enough to make Kinnoshita his replacement. He looked entirely overwhelmed. Surrounded like he was he couldn’t move, couldn’t act. He was trapped not even able to answer the questions thrown at him.

 _Trapped._ Kageyama had an idea. Tanaka was calling loudly for quiet as Kageyama left the room but he didn’t slow as he made his way to the storage rooms where they had stowed all the volleyball equipment. The last time any of them had gone in there had been when they had put it all away three days prior. The night Daichi had told them the truth. The night their previous life ended and Takeda Sensei had vanished. Kageyama felt a pang of loss as he pushed a container of volleyballs out of his way, making directly for where the nets were rolled and stored. Under normal circumstances, it took two people to haul the netting to the court, but Kageyama didn’t regard anything as normal anymore. He didn’t need the poles that would normally hold up the net, but the close-knit nylon webbing. It wasn’t going to be for volleyball anymore.

With a grunt Kageyama hefted the net and made his way out of the room, kicking the door shut behind him. Hauling the net to the entrance wasn’t easy, it was bulky but Kageyama managed to get it to the doorway the kids had barricaded to keep their half of the building safe from the Adults. No one was there, presumably everyone was still in the room where Daichi had fainted, so Kageyama dropped the net to the left of the door and went in search of Taketora. Whatever they did next would need those keys.

The meeting room was buzzing. As Kageyama entered he saw several of the senpai gathered around Daichi who was now sitting up with Kinnoshita’s assistance. He appeared to be talking but he looked confused. _He’s probably asking what happened._ Kageyama could see Taketora as well as Noya and Tanaka standing near each other within earshot of Daichi but they seemed distracted from what the captain was saying. They had a shattered look about them. Everyone in the room seemed to have gathered into small groups, Hinata was sitting to the side of the room near Kenma and seemed to be saying something to the latter, but Kenma just stared at him. Everyone looked so scared, so worried. Milling around with no direction all Kageyama could think was how they had to do something. _If everyone stands still the ball hits the court._

Approaching Taketora was going to be harder than Kageyama had really stopped to think about. He wasn’t Hinata, who was able to enter any conversation he wanted; and worse than that, Kageyama hadn’t been able to speak to anyone since Kuroo had gotten sick. No one wanted to do so much as look at him for too long. Still, Kageyama made a slow and cautious approach towards the three normally overzealous second years.

Noya was the first to see him, the shorter boy tilted his head to the side as he watched Kageyama’s faltering approach, his eyes were bloodshot from tears but the look he was throwing at Kageyama was not weakened by it. Noya had always had an intimidating amount of confidence and Kageyama felt like he had no place to be anywhere near the grief of his senpai. But what choice did he have?

He was standing before Taketora when he decided to apologize. For his intrusion - but mainly for what his being there meant. He had killed Kuroo only the day before, Kageyama didn’t know what he would do if his role and Taketora were reversed. Kageyama bowed.

“T-taketora Senpai. I apologize.”  Kageyama felt a tightness in his chest catch at the words as he spoke them. He was grateful he was facing the floor.

“Kageyama-kun,” Taketora’s voice sounded clogged with emotion and Kageyama looked up at the sound of his name, “you aren’t alone in killing them.”

Kageyama didn’t fully understand and it must have shown on his face because Taketora continued, “Takeda Sensei. I killed him.”

Kageyama nodded, it was a peace offering. He straightened up and looked Taketora in the eye. “We should get the keys to the bus.”

Taketora’s nod was enough answer. It took about thirty minutes to figure out all the loose ends. Tanaka and Noya had both insisted on joining the excursion claiming that a need for backup muscle was higher than the need for stealth. Gathering weapons and explaining the purpose of the volleyball net, the group was confident in their plan when it came to dealing with the dangers outside of their haven.

Kageyama felt the tension in the group as they stood before the exit. Tanaka and Taketora stood like bodyguards on either side of himself and Noya.

“We should tell Daichi we’re going out.” Tanaka spoke up just as Kageyama and Taketora braced themselves against the lockers they had pushed in front of the doors to block off the gym.

“He’s got enough to be dealing with.” Noya said. It was the first thing that Kageyama had heard him say. Noya was staring at the blocked exit with a dark storm brewing behind his eyes. “We deal with this.”

Taketora didn’t take a side, but he didn’t move away from where he was – shoulder braced against the lockers. Kageyama looked around and caught sight of the incredibly tall blocker from Nekoma. _What was his name. Haiba something…_ Taketora must have followed his gaze cause he called out to his kouhai.

“Lev!” Upon hearing his name, Haiba Lev turned his head very slowly and calmly in their direction looking intrigued by their placement by the door. “Let someone know that we’re going to get the bus keys. And get someone to guard this door to let us back in!”

Lev nodded and Tanaka’s worries were pacified. All that remained was to remove the barricade. Kageyama and Taketora shoved at the locker while Noya and Tanaka dismantled the two stacked benches to make way for the door to swing open. Tanaka and Taketora had agreed to take turns handling the netting so neither of them would get too fatigued – a suggestion Kageyama had made.

Kageyama slid his hands along the shaft of his spear and spun the weapon in his fingers, feeling the balance, and took a steadying breath as he looked out into the empty hallway on the other side of the door.

“Don’t just stand around. Move!” Noya said forcefully behind him and Kageyama launched forward into movement.

Taketora took the lead in their expedition, he knew where Takeda Sensei’s body was. The windows didn’t allow much light to enter the building and Kageyama thought how, if time had been more on their side, it would have been much better to just wait for the sun to rise so they could see more clearly. But Taketora assured them all in hushed tones that it wasn’t that far. “Just the stairs at the opposite end, the middle landing.”

When they passed the set of stairs in the middle of the stretch of hall, Noya hissed a warning. Those stairs – Kageyama remembered – lead down to the main entrance. To where Noya and Asahi had been on guard at the front doors.

 _No one is on guard there now…_ Kageyama thought, there was no point in focusing on worrying about it but the fact that the front doors could come crashing in with a tide of Adults to follow with no warning whatsoever was unnerving.

Tanaka had hold of the volleyball net as they all tiptoed past the stairs. Kageyama glanced down them but saw no signs of any disturbance. When they were several feet away from the stairs Kageyama released a breath that he hadn’t realized he’s been holding.

It was easy, not that Kageyama was surprised. It was a simple task and from what he had observed of the Adults, they were lazy when there weren’t kids around for them to hunt. It made sense that Asahi would stay on the first floor unless he followed someone up the stairs.

 _Nice and simple._ Kageyama though as they reached the stairs at the end of the hallway. Taketora looked grimly over the railing, and Kageyama joined him to see the broken body of Takeda Sensei on the landing below. _Not Sensei anymore._ Kageyama thought as the four of them carefully edged down the stairs, Noya and Taketora towards the front with softball bats and Kageyama with his spear in the center while Tanaka held up the back with the netting in his arms and to encumbered to fight well.

Takeda Sensei’s body didn’t move and he appeared to be entirely dead, so Kageyama knelt next to the body. It was a very different thing, dealing with them when they were up and moving and trying to kill you, but Kageyama felt an immovable lump in his throat looking at the dead body of his teacher. A body was easier to relate to the person they used to be than the monsters were.

Kageyama tried and failed to swallow the lump in this throat, then he stuck his hand in Takeda’s pants pocket. The cloth was damp and slightly sticky from fluids: sweat, pus, blood, that had infused all of Takeda’s clothing. There were two keys on the keyring along with a tag with the number 114. _The bus number._ Kageyama thought with relief as he looked at the keys. They had succeeded.

They were on the second floor of the three-story building and all was eerily still. It was something out of a film, those movies that Kageyama didn’t like to watch because there was only violence and he didn’t see any point to that, not when he could play volleyball in the back yard. He’d watched one once though, he didn’t remember much of it but he still found himself getting nightmares that were related to the same themes. Being left alone – no one to guard your back – and long endless hallways. Never an exit and always silent until it wasn’t.

There was a knock on one of the doors. Kageyama jerked to his feet and shoved the keys in his pocket so his hands were free to grab his spear. The others around him had raised their weapons in trepidation and Tanaka had readied the net to throw. With a second knock, Noya broke defensive formation and approached the door. He peaked through the window and then jumped back as a shuddering _thump_ hit the door. A rattling moan came from the other side of the wood and Noya turned back to look at the group.

“We should kill the ones in there.” Noya said, eyes alight.

“No.” Taketora shook his head rapidly in horror and Tanaka approached Noya, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Holy shit!” Tanaka’s expression was drawn, “Tora, you need to see this.” Tanaka said while looking through small window in the door.

Taketora and Kageyama approached the door and peered in: there were four people inside the room. One of the Adults was kneeling next to a body, intestines clutched in its as it slowly and methodically brought them to its mouth. Another Adult was knocking on the door, getting more and more agitated now that it sensed the presence of their group in the hallway. The thudding increased, but in the back corner of the room someone was curled up with his head on his knees and shaking.

Taketora had crouched on the ground where he was standing, balancing on the balls of his feet and scrubbing his hands over his head. “Yaku and Fukunaga…” He muttered and Kageyama looked down to see that there were tears on Taketora’s face.

Noya pushed past Kageyama and looked in the window again. The Adult banging on the door had been Yaku – Kageyama didn’t like thinking of the Adults as they used to be so he hadn’t bothered thinking too hard about it. But he had seen enough to know that the body on the floor being eaten was Narita, the only one of the four Kageyama knew.

Kageyama shuddered. It would be such a horrible way to die. Noya was craning his neck looking in the window around the Adult’s head to look at the boy in the corner and then he spoke. “Is that guy okay?”

Taketora shot up and looked in the window, easily able to see over Noya and the Adult to look at the quivering person in the back. The first thing Taketora said was a whisper that Kageyama didn’t hear but when Taketora spoke again there was no missing it. He bellowed, “KAI!”

Both Adults in the room now had their full attention on the door. The one that was on the floor scrambled to the door at full speed, throwing itself bodily at the door causing it to shake in its frame and their group to jump backwards in fright.

The door didn’t break and soon Taketora was back at the window, peering in to see if Kai was responding. Kageyama didn’t need to be able to see in the window to know what was going on as Taketora was practically narrating it.

“It is Kai, he’s looking up at me. He’s being crying holy shit, we gotta get him out of there! What Kai? Why are you shaking your head? How are you still oka— shit.” Taketora was staring into the room fully absorbed by whatever was happening inside.

Curious, Kageyama edged to the side and tried to look in. Kai had pulled the collar of his jersey down and revealed that his chest was entirely coated in glossy boils. Kai was shaking his head with tears trailing down his face, he made a shooing motion with his hand.

“Not Kai for much longer.” Kageyama said numbly, looking away.

Taketora was crying loudly now, horrified by the sight. Tanaka was pulling his arm, “Let’s go Tora. Come on bro, we need to go.”

Noya’s expression was burning. “We need to save Kai!”

But Taketora shook his head, tears still on his cheeks. “We need to get the keys back to the group.” He looked back into the room and placed a fist over his heart and tried to smile, which only triggered more sobbing.

Tanaka pulled Taketora away from the room and back towards the staircase. The net had been abandoned so Kageyama did his best to grab it and drag it along with them; theoretically, he could have lifted it, the problem was that it was bulky and hard to manage while carrying his spear.

Noya was leading the way this time, while Tanaka did his best to console Taketora. Upon reaching the stairs, Kageyama abandoned the net and began to climb. It was only one floor up, the chances of them running into Asahi without provocation were minimal. They weren’t going to need the net-trap and it was only slowing him down.

Kageyama hadn’t accounted for noise. With Taketora’s yelling and crying gave him pause – Kageyama took one last look over the railing when they made it to the top floor, wanting to reassure himself that there was nothing behind them.

Except there was.

Asahi was standing at the bottom of the stairs his head tilted so that he was looking straight up. Kageyama made eye contact and knew they needed to start running. He didn’t even think to say anything he just sprinted past Taketora and Tanaka and pelted past Noya. The others shouted in surprise and called after him but he didn’t need to say anything for their questions to be answered.

“ASAHII!” Noya’s voice was a scream that tore through the hall and brought Kageyama to a halt to turn and look as Noya charged at Asahi, softball bat raised, and clobbered him. The sickening crack of wood on skull, of bone breaking was worse than the weird jerking recoil of stabbing with a spear. There was a good reason that Kageyama had refused to accept a bat.

Asahi hit the ground under Noya’s onslaught. In the end, it was one-on-one and the netting for the trap was discarded, unused. It should have been clear that Asahi – with a larger body and no sense of reality – would have won in the struggle, but it was Noya who beat Asahi into the floor. Repetitively swinging his bat into Asahi’s mashed head until shards of skull and puttied brain were oozing through the long and filthy strands of Asahi’s hair and Noya was covered in his blood.

Tanaka was yelling for Noya to stop but he didn’t until Asahi’s head was reduced to a target so mangled that there was nothing left to hit. Noya was breathing hard, eyes wider than ever as he stared at the body at his feet.

“We- we need to go.” Taketora voiced finally. The others nodded and they made their way back to pound on the door to relative safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I barely even know Kai as a character but honestly I think his fate is one of the worst I’ve written so far. To watch your friends turn into monsters and tear up the guy you just met to feast on? That’s…   
> Then there’s Noya absolutely obliterating Asahi’s head o.O   
> I know. I’m horrible. But sickness has all sorts of side effects, and I suppose grief is one of them.


End file.
